“It’s a lot easier to do good work when you have good words to say and work with good people.” -Mark Harmon Today was an incredible day in class. The last two days were my first travel training since a recent surgery and man did I miss teaching in person. So, what made it incredible? I was working with the always fantastic Sara Whitney, M.Ed. and some amazing Massachusetts bankers. The group was passionate about leadership and hungry to continue growing. We spent a lot of tim

“I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.” — Michael Jordan Too many times, we get fixated on the outcomes and forget to assess the processes. I have been thinking a lot about that as my son has been playing soccer this year. His team is, to put it simply, not winning games. That can be demoralizing, frustrating, and even make a person want to quit. The trick is, I can see him actively getting better. He will go out in the yard after school an

“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it is always your choice.” -Wayne Dyer Many leaders I work with underestimate the power of choice. They can quickly assess the problems and challenges they are facing but fail to make the choice to change. Many times, they don’t even view it as a choice but consider themselves stuck by circumstance. What if I told you most of your circumstances are the culmination of your choices and habits? Do you believe that? A

“To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.” -Steve Prefontaine In life, everyone is given gifts and talents. However, in order to make use of those talents it requires hard work and dedication over time to unlock the full potential that you have been given. One way I used to phrase that with my team is, “I don’t expect you to give one hundred percent every day, but I do expect you to give one hundred percent of what you have in you today.” What that real

“The older I get, the more I’m conscious of ways very small things can make a change in the world. Tiny little things, but the world is made up of tiny matters, isn’t it?” -Sandra Cisneros Today’s reminder is that little things make all the difference in the world. Many times, we think it is the grand gesture or success on a huge project that will help us feel accomplished. However, I often find that it is a small gesture that means the world to one person that moves the need

“It’s so hard to forget pain, but it’s even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace.” -Chuck Palahniuk Sometimes in life we go through moments that are extremely painful. Those moments challenge us and often times leave scars. Because of the scars, those moments stay with us much longer than our greatest successes. That is why pain is the greatest teacher. Keep that in mind as a leader. So many times, we try to help o

“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” -Albert Schweitzer While I do agree with this quote, I think it leaves a lot of room for interpretation. You see, many leaders mistake complacency for compassion. We see that difficult conversation with an employee or a leader as something that would create friction therefore it wouldn’t be compassionate to mention it. If we can’t mention a challenge today because it may hurt someone’

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” -Jack Welch During a training session today, I discussed the danger of being a leader that does it all. Many leaders fall into the trap of continuing to view their success through their own personal production instead of team outcomes. They decide to just put all the responsibility on their shoulders and carry everything instead of getting the team

“Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational.” -Hugh Mackay I was working with someone recently and we were discussing their strategy. Their fear was that they would create a plan that would fail because “there are a lot of moving parts and a million different variables.” The truth is, at any moment there is no perfect answer. Life is messy and there will always be variables. Especially when dealing with other pe

“The value of life is not in its duration, but in its donation. You are not important because of how long you live, you are important because of how effective you live.” -Myles Munroe With the passing of Dolly Parton, this quote seemed relevant. She was someone who tried to make a difference in the lives of others. In fact, from the time my kids were about two years old, they could recognize her. They would receive books from her Imagination Library, so they knew her as “the

“Life is not linear; you have ups and downs. It’s how you deal with the troughs that defines you.” -Michael Lee-Chin We all want things to go our way. To catch all the luck and be super successful would be the dream. But what if bad luck is good luck in disguise? How many times in life does our bad luck either lead us to be in position for our next opportunity or provide the motivation to get out of whatever rut you are stuck in and give maximum effort? If you didn’t go throu

“Time, the devourer of all things.” -Ovid Have you ever said the phrase, “I don’t have time for that.” I consistently work with leaders on the concept of time management. A lot of leaders will say they simply don’t have the time to get something done. While this may sound true, it is also one of the easiest time management traps to fall into. And most of us have probably said those words or something similar at one point or another. Here is the truth, it isn’t about time at a

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. -Denis Waitley This week I was thinking about the concepts of happiness and fulfillment. I was working with leaders, and I remind them that we can’t be responsible for the happiness of our team members, but it is our responsibility to help them find fulfillment in the work we are doing together. While thinking about t

“There is an opportunity cost for everything we do. This is why we must have awareness to ensure that what value we are pursuing is really what we value, because the pursuit leaves countless lost opportunities in its wake. We choose one experience at the sacrifice of all other experiences.” -Chris Matakas When choosing what to pursue in our lives, it is important to think about the concept of opportunity costs. An opportunity cost is everything else you are giving up in order

“Guilt is just as powerful, but its influence is positive, while shame's is destructive. Shame erodes our courage and fuels disengagement.” -Brene Brown I have read a lot about “clean fuel” versus “dirty fuel” when exploring motivations for why humans behave as we do. The interesting thing is that they are often near the same zip code within us. For example, in the quote above, guilt is not very far from shame in our minds but the way we respond is very different. With guilt,

“Desire is the key to motivation, but its determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.” -Mario Andretti Commitment can be difficult for humans because it requires effort over an extended period of time. It is often easy for people to start a new project or set a new goal, but the follow through is often lacking. Think about New Year’s resolutions. They are easy to set, t

“The ability to recognize opportunities and move in new - and sometimes unexpected - directions will benefit you no matter your interests or aspirations.” -Drew Gilpin Faust When I work with leaders, a lot of times we need to plan for the future. By planning, it allows us to continually work toward desired outcomes instead of being a passenger along for the ride. However, what happens if we are too rigid in our commitment toward one outcome? In life, I have noticed that there

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” -Oscar Wilde You don’t always know the power of a smile or a kind word, but those small gestures can make the biggest difference. Often times as we walk past others on the street or even in a hallway in our building, we don’t see the full weight of the burdens they are carrying. We don’t truly know how hurt they are or even if they have given up hope. And that is why a smile or showing someone appreciation can

“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” -Rabindranath Tagore Today in class we talked about sales and service. The key to good sales is that it is focused on service. When you offer something to someone that they need, you are doing it right. However, if you offer products because of quotas or other selfish reasons, you are doing it wrong. This concept applies to so much in life though. When humans do

“The people you surround yourself with influence your behaviors, so choose friends who have healthy habits.” -Dan Buettner I was working with bankers with the Illinois Bankers Association this week. Many of my leadership classes can have a serious tone because of the subject material. However, the bankers I worked with were an incredible group of bankers that made it very fun. So today is all about recognizing the impact of the people around you on your performance and outcom